After reading Fire Punch, this was the page that kept stuck in my head after all these years
I keep thinking about it and how they relate to the narrative of Chainsaw Man in the sense that Denji in that series never really had an actual adult figure to guide and properly educate him.
He had Aki acting as an older brother, trying to protect him, he had Kishibe teaching him how to be a hunter, and he had Asa teaching him some common sense... But he never really had a true father or mother figure to really educate him into becoming a proper adult.
Most of the adults in this series were either trying to manipulate, trick, use, or take advantage of his naivety so they could exploit his Chainsaw powers.
The closest thing Denji had to an adult figure actually trying to take care of him was probably Pochita. That orange dog tried to had Denji think about what he wanted, why he wanted it, if it was good for him or not, how he should go about obtaining it... Tried to fight to keep him safe, tried to help him find himself whenever he was lost, and was even ready to sacrifice himself for his sake.
But at the end of the day, he was still just his friend, not his father, so there was only so much he could do or so much he could teach. And as the series went on, this lack of education kept becoming an even bigger harm to Denji as he started to develop this mindset that as long as he had Pochita, he could deal with anything.
Similar to how Wolverine doesn't care about getting stabbed cause he knows he can heal, having Pochita made Denji think he didn't need to learn or grow because he would always have his best friend to rely on.
And it seemed like Pochita had also realized his own presence was halting Denji's development, which led to his decision at the end of the series. It's why the series ends with Denji finally being able to truly succeed in helping the girl he never could, even with Pochita by his side after he finally managed to part ways with him.
We can see in small things, like how in the new world that trashy teacher who was grooming a schoolgirl remained dead, or in the Aging Devil arc with those old men who wanted to sacrifice kids for immortality, or even Makima herself and her whole plot in part 1 about manipulating Denji. This series hates people who fail to educate and protect children, and instead try to take advantage of them.
Denji's education on how to become a proper hero and on how to properly be truly happy was finally allowed to start after a responsible "adult" finally decided to show him the way by sacrificing himself, even if it might not have been something he wanted, but it was something he needed.
Some people were upset that Denji "lost his agency" or "didn't choose to get better himself and instead had the decision made for him" but I think that's kinda the point. At the end of the day, he was a kid that nobody ever took responsibility for, and finally, in the end, Pochita decided to step up and take responsibility himself.
Chainsaw Man is a series that likes to show you some of the worst aspects of the world, so you can learn to value even more the importance of the best aspects of the world, and now that Denji is free from the worst, he has a chance to experience the best.
